Friendship is Missing: Twilight's Journey
by ssjgokillo
Summary: The night before the real wedding of Princess Cadance and Shinning Armor, Twilight finds herself in trouble. Still feeling hurt and alone when her friends, brother, and mentor all abandoned her to comfort the fake Cadance, Twilight undertakes a journey once taken by Starswirl the Bearded. She follows in his hoofsteps on the journey from when he created the Elements of Harmony.


**Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, all rights to the show and it's properties belong to Hasbro.**

Night had fallen over Canterlot, with the moon hanging brightly in the sky thanks to Princess Luna. While most of the city's citizens had already gone to bed, many were still awake. Some celebrating the defeat of the changeling queen Chrysalis, while others were simply too excited for the wedding that was to take place the next day, between the Captain of the guard Shinning Armor and the real Princess Mi Amore Cadenza.

One young mare though, had other thoughts keeping her awake. She had spent the majority of the day trying to solve the changeling crisis, then ensuring that everything was ready for the wedding tomorrow. To be honest, she had been grateful for the distraction, the work that kept her mind busy with the task at hand, rather than the thoughts that had been building in the back of her mind ever since Chrysalis had sent her to that cave beneath Canterlot.

But now that the work was done, and the quiet of night covered Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle found herself unable to avoid the troubling thoughts. Perhaps it would have been better to confront them when they first started, rather than giving them time to build, but now they were rearing the presence in her mind, refusing to be quieted for a few hours of sleep.

She had been abandoned.

Her friends, her mentor, even her own brother. All of them had left her. Perhaps for Shinning Armor and Princess Celestia it was excusable, after all Shinning was going to comfort his supposed distraught bride, and Cadance was Celestia's niece. But what about her friends? Each and every one of them had turned their backs on her, to comfort a mare that they not only did not know very well, but had been rude to them throughout the day.

How could any of them think that she would ever say those things without good reason? Did they truly think so little of her? That she would try to make someone seem like they were evil just because she didn't want to lose her brother? Cadance had been her favorite foal-sitter! Aside from Shinning Armor, she had been the only pony Twilight would have considered to be a friend before moving to Ponyville.

And that was what led to Twilight's current predicament, as she sat staring into a mirror with a blank look on her face. Just moments ago, while these thoughts had been running through her head, she had glanced at the mirror and hadn't been able to look away. Her reflection showed that her normally purple fur had dulled, to an almost gray color. Even her mane had been affected. This had only ever happened to her once before. When Discord had used his magic to split up her friends, and when she had been unable to believe in the magic of friendship any longer.

Ever since Twilight and her friends had become their bearers, Twilight had done research into the Elements of Harmony. As far as she was able to find, there had never been a time when six separate ponies had each bore one of the elements. In fact, ever since their discovery the only two beings in Equestria who were known to be able to use their power were Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Even Starswirl the Bearded, the pony who had discovered the Elements of Harmony, was unable to use them. So anything that happened now was new territory, territory that Twilight had been documenting with her usual studious nature.

After the fight with Discord, she had thought about what had happened to her and her friends, and had come up with a hypothesis. That night in the castle, when she and her friends had faced down Nightmare Moon, they had bonded with their respective Elements. They were, for all intents and purposes, the Elements themselves, the stones now acting as a catalyst for their powers. Discord realized this, and had taken the time to turn them individually against the very thing that made them their specific Element. For any other pony this would not have been anything special, but for the bearers of the Elements it had been like a poison to their soul. Their bond with the Elements was so strong that the sudden absence had basically drained the life out of them, leaving empty husks in their wake.

And that was the dilemma facing Twilight now. The hurt from the betrayal of her friends had left her unable to believe in the magic of friendship, and thus had cut her off from the Element she represented. And it hurt. It was like she wasn't even herself anymore.

She had already tried to go over the lessons in friendship she had so seriously recorded and sent to Princess Celestia during her time in Ponyville, but the color had not returned to her. Her friends and family had willingly turned their backs on her, and the wound from that ran too deep for such a simple fix.

But where did that leave her? Since she had moved to Ponyville her life had revolved around her friends and her study of friendship. Without that what did she have left? She doubted Princess Celestia would simply let her stay in Canterlot and resume her study of magic. The Elements of Harmony were too important to Equestria. No, the Princess would send her back to Ponyville to try and reconnect with her friends and restore the balance.

Twilight thought about that. Maybe it would be that easy, return to Ponyville and let things return to normal. Time heals all wounds as the saying goes. But she didn't think that would happen in this case. Sure, in time she may accept what happened and move on, but the sting of her friends' actions would remain, she doubted she'd ever be able to be the spark the Elements required if that happened.

Realizing her thoughts were starting to go in circles, Twilight sighed and stood up, walking out of her room. There was only one thing she knew to do in situations such as these, research! Surely there was something in the Canterlot library that could help her? After all, Starswirl the Bearded had discovered the Elements of Harmony, and there was an entire wing dedicated to his research.

As Twilight trotted across the courtyard towards the library, she was unaware of a pair of eyes following her her, a pair of eyes that had seen the troubled mare throughout the day and realized that something was amiss. The pony watched her for a few more moments, before returning to her own duties. After all, even though the last crisis had been averted, it was still her job to guard the night.

=-=MLP:FIM=-=

The library was closed for the night, but the guards has quickly opened the doors for Twilight when she approached. None of them commented on her appearance, though Twilight couldn't really blame them.

'After all, how many times have I forgotten to sleep while researching something? I've probably looked worse than this' She thought ruefully to herself, as another guard raised the gate to the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the library.

Once inside Twilight took a moment to relish in the feeling of serenity she got whenever she was in a library. There was something about the quiet, the smell of dried ink and old paper, that relaxed her. As it always was when she was a foal, libraries were a sanctuary to her.

After giving herself a moment to enjoy the atmosphere, she went to the shelves and started browsing their contents. There was still so much here she had never seen. While she had always been interested in the spells and research of Starswirl the Bearded, Princess Celestia had insisted that she get a better grasp of the basics before she delve into his notes. Not that she forbid Twilight from reading his material, just that she suggested Twilight wasn't ready for it, and Twilight never wanted to disappoint her mentor.

She let her eyes wander over the titles of scrolls and books she could see. There was much on history and the mechanics behind magic, there was even a report on some of the creatures that lived in the Everfree Forest. She could spend days in here reading and still only barely scratch the surface of the knowledge Starswirl left for future generations.

Twilight reigned her mind back into focus. While she would love to simply browse these writings at her leisure, she had come here with a specific purpose. With that in mind, she began wandering the shelves, looking for anything that would have information on the Elements of Harmony.

'Heh, maybe it's filed under "E"' Twilight thought to herself, a small smile on her lips.

Sure enough, when she looked through the books and scrolls in the "E" sections, she came across a small bound book with scrawling text across the front that read "Elements of Harmony". Twilight grinned excitedly and pulled the book from the shelf, using her magic to hold it in front of her as she began to read.

It took her a moment to get used to the hoof written text, a brilliant wizard Starswirl may have been, but his hoofwriting left a bit to be desired. The beginning of the text told of Starswirl's journey to a mysterious empire to the north of Canterlot, a place called the Crystal Empire. There he had met the Crystal Ponies, a group of ponies whose fur and mane shone like the crystals that gave their empire its name. But what did this mysterious empire have to do with the Elements?

_ I had never before seen such an amazing thing. These Crystal Ponies actually protected their entire empire with a powerful magical barrier, one that was powered by love and happiness! I was astounded. While I had known from previous studies that love was a powerful force, I never actually thought of the implications of using it in magic. _

_ I had asked my guide where they had found such an amazing artifact, and he told me that the artifact (A Crystal Heart, a heart shaped crystal as the name implies) had actually been a nothing more than a fine piece of crystal before their second Princess had taken it, and gone on a journey to the far reaches of Equestria. When she returned, the Crystal Heart held a glow within it, and the pony's happiness at the sight of their returning princess filled the heart with power, radiating protective magic throughout the empire._

_ I then told my guide about the troubles of the kingdom I had come from. How an being of pure evil and chaos currently ruled the land, and how I was searching for a power that might be able to end his reign to put the rightful heirs back on the throne. _

_ My guide anticipated my next question, and decided to let me down gently, explaining that the Crystal Heart would only work for the Empire, as it was a combination of their Princess' and Ponies' love for each other and their home that powered the artifact._

_ I was disappointed to be sure, and it must have shown on my face, for my guide nudged me with a kind smile on his own._

_ All was not lost it seemed. While the Crystal Heart would not be of any use to my cause, he did have a solution._

_ "What you seek is not beyond your own power to provide. Our princess realized that love would protect our land, and so on her journey she filled the Crystal Heart with the love of those she met on her travels, as well as her own love for her homeland. We can supply you with the crystals, but it will be you who will have to empower them, for the sake of your own homeland."_

_ I must confess I was confused for a moment, before it dawned on me. While the Princess of the Crystal Empire had used love as a catalyst for the Crystal Heart's magic, I would have to find my own. _

_ I retired to my room early that evening, and began to think about what could best protect my homeland. I had studied many different forces and powers in my life, but none that I could think of that would be stronger than love._

_ I fell asleep at my desk as I often do, but even in my sleep my mind continued to focus on finding a power as great as love to protect Equestria._

_ And it was in my dreams that I found it. This dream was a memory of a conversation I had with Princess Celestia when she was still a filly. About how there were greater powers than magic in the world that I wanted her to study, powers such as love..._

_ And Friendship._

Twilight's eyes widened as she continued to read the book. Starswirl the Bearded hadn't simply discovered the Elements of Harmony. If she was correct in what she assumed lay in the next pages, then he had actually _created_ the Elements.

And as she read on, her assumption was proven correct. After carefully considering the task he had set for himself, he began thinking on the principles of friendship. What friends shared, what they craved, what exactly made friendship what it was.

His Crystal Pony hosts were extremely gracious in granting his request, giving him six different crystals to use as the catalyst for what he was currently calling "The Friendship Crystals". The book went on to describe Starswirl's journey to empower each of the crystals with what he considered to be the elements of friendship; Kindness, Honesty, Loyalt, Generosity, Laughter, and finally, Magic.

However, when the book got to the part of Starswirl's journey where he tried to empower the crystal he had saved for magic, it abruptly ended. There was no information on how he had intended to fill the crystal with the magic of friendship, just blank pages until the very end of the book, where there was simply a hastily scrawled note.

_The magic lies at the end of the journey._

Twilight eyed the line in confusion. What did that mean? How did Starswirl imbue the final Element? Was it supposed to be some kind of secret?

She considered it for a few moments, before realization dawned on her. _'The journey! Starswirl is saying that the magic of friendship was created on his journey, and imbued the Element at the end of it!'_

That thought gave Twilight an idea. Perhaps, if the magic of friendship could truly be found on this journey, then she could find her answers by following Starswirl's steps! Even the very thought of undertaking such a journey had her feeling more like her old self. It would be so exciting! Seeing the strange and exotic places that Starswirl wrote about, learning about different cultures, and in the process she could even heal the wound on her heart! It was perfect!

Feeling more energized than she had all day, Twilight hurried back to her room, keeping Starswirl's book floating alongside her as she went. She burst into her room, and began making a mental checklist of what she needed to do.

_'First things first, I'll have to pack some quills and blank scrolls in case I come across anything interesting to record!' _The purple aura of her magic appeared around a hoofful of quills and some scrolls, slipping them into her saddlebags. _'Check, now I'll need some scarves and perhaps a coat, Starswirl's book mentions that the Crystal Empire was far to the north of here, so it might be quite a bit colder there.'_ And so she went, using her magic to pack things she figured she'd need on the trip, lastly packing the book that Starswirl had written. She made sure to pack it where it would be easily accessible, as the journal had the only map she'd have to go off of.

She used her magic to slip her saddlebags on, before another thought hit her. Could she really just leave without telling anyone? What about Spike? Or her brother? What about...

She sighed. If she told anyone what she was planning they would just try and stop her. Princess Celestia might even order her to forget the journey and to continue her studies back in Ponyville. But, she realized, that could only happen if they found out before she went on the journey...

Her horn lit up with magic as a scroll laid across her desk and a quill dipped itself in ink. "Dear Spike," She said as she began to dictate her letter. Once she was finished, she rolled the scroll up and set it on one of the pillows on her bed. She looked around the room one last time to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything, before closing the door. Once it was shut, her horn once again lit up with magic, and she smiled as she heard the click of the lock sliding into place. That should at least buy her a little bit of time before anyone noticed she was missing.

Ensuring everything was in place, Twilight smiled to herself as she surrounded herself with her magic. There was a zapping sound as the light grew brighter, and when it faded, Twilight Sparkle was gone.

=-=MLP:FiM=-=

It was quite a sight to behold, after all it was the first Royal Wedding Canterlot had seen in well over a millennium. The decorations were sublime, everypony was dressed in their finest clothes, and the excitement filled the air. If anything, the changeling invasion the previous day had only heightened the excitement for the wedding. After all, it was no secret that it was Shinning Armor and Princess Cadance's love for each other that had dispatched the changelings. This was the ultimate celebration of that same love, and nopony could contain themselves.

Nopony that is, except for the groom himself. Shinning Armor glanced around, hoping to see even a hint of purple that would show his sister was there. While he hadn't actually said anything yesterday, he had thought that the misunderstanding between them was cleared up with the Changeling revelation, and that she would be standing at his side as his Best Mare. Spike had said that Twilight hadn't answered when he'd tried her room, and none of her friends from Ponyville had seen her since the re-done wedding preparations yesterday. She couldn't seriously think that he didn't want her to be here... could she?

"Shinning Armor?" He started at the voice of Princess Celestia, who was looking at him in concern. "Is something the matter?"

Shinning Armor sighed. "I don't think Twili is going to show up." He said, his eyes drifting over the crowd once again.

Celestia smiled kindly at the young stallion. "I'm sure she's around Shinning Armor, she may just feel awkward about what happened yesterday. You have other things to worry about, your bride will be here any moment." She said.

As if fulfilling Celestia's words, the chorus of birds Fluttershy was leading began to trill the bridal march, as the doors to the room opened. The entirety of the congregation turned to look, as three fillies skipped down the aisle, scattering flower petals from the baskets they held in their mouths as they passed.

Then, with a murmur of excitement going through the crowd, Princess Cadance stepped through the doors, looking more stunning than even Shinning Armor was expecting. She gracefully walked down the aisle, where she joined her soon to be husband before Princess Celestia. She smiled at Shinning, all her love showing through as she gazed at him, and he once again couldn't help but wonder how anyone had been fooled by the Changeling Queen.

Shinning smiled back at her, and as the doors closed allowed himself one more quick glance around the room. His smile almost slipped when he still did not see his little sister even amongst the guests, but he decided to instead focus on his beautiful bride. He'd figure out where Twilight was during the reception, for now though, he had a wedding to finish.

Shinning wasn't the only one to notice the lack of the lavender colored mare however. Twilight's friends all exchanged a worried look as they stood next to Princess Cadance.

=-=MLP:FiM=-=

"Come on Twilight open the door!" Spike called as he once again knocked on the door. He had been surprised when Twilight hadn't shown up for the wedding, but he knew she's never forgive herself if she didn't at least get a chance to congratulate Shinning Armor and Cadance during the reception.

He had ran straight from the wedding to Twilight's room, where he had found the door locked and Twilight still not responding to his calls. This was the third time he had tried to get her to open the door and he was starting to get worried.

"Twilight, at least answer me and let me know you're okay!" Spike pleaded, pressing an ear to the door to listen for any sounds coming from inside.

"Spike?" A voice called from the side, causing Spike to jump into the air in fright. He whirled around and saw Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity walking toward him. "What's going on? Why wasn't Twilight at the wedding?" Applejack asked.

"I don't know! Her door is locked and she's not answering me or anything!" Spike said, the worry clear on his face.

Rarity walked forward and knocked on the door. "Twilight sweetie? Are you alright?" She asked. Everyone listened closely, but nothing could be heard inside the room.

"Twilight cooooome ooooonnnn! You're gonna miss a super-duper-ultra fun party if you stay cooped up in there!" Pinkie Pie said with a slight whine in her voice. Still, there was no answer from inside.

The ponies (and dragon) in the hall all looked at each other, not sure what to do. Finally, Rainbow Dash lost what was left of her patience.

"That's it! Twilight if you don't open this door I'm gonna bust it down! You can't keep ignoring us like this!" She said.

"Um, Rainbow Dash, maybe we shouldn't bother Twilight..." Fluttershy said, worried for her friend, but not wanting to infringe on her friend's privacy either.

"No way, she missed her own brother's wedding for pony's sake! I'm giving you to the count of three Twilight, then I'm bursting through." Rainbow Dash threatened. There was still no answer, so Rainbow Dash took a few steps away from the door.

"One..." She counted.

"Two..." She crouched down, as she prepared to charge the door.

"THREE!" With that, Rainbow Dash charged towards the door, trying to ram it open. Right as she was about to connect however, the door flew open and she found herself trying desperately to stop as she slid into the darkened room, hitting a wall on the other side with a loud THUMP.

The others looked inside at Pinkie Pie, who had opened the door from the other side. Applejack looked towards where Pinkie had just been standing, back to the mare standing in front of her, and back to the spot again.

"Now how in tarnation did you get in there?!" She asked the pink mare.

"Simple silly, I just came in through the window!" She said, smiling as her friends entered the room.

"But Pinkie Pie, this room isn't on the ground floor, how did you get in through the window?" Rarity asked, looking out the opened window to the ground below.

"Oh that's simple Rarity, I just..."

"Hey, where's Twilight?" Spike asked, gaining the attention of the mares in the room. They looked around and sure enough, there was no sign of their missing friend. The lights were off, her bed didn't even look like it had been slept in.

"Um... maybe there's something in that scroll on her bed..." Fluttershy said, drawing everyone's attention to the paper resting on one of the pillows on Twilight's bed. Spike reached forward and snatched the scroll up, quickly unrolling it as he began to read out loud.

_Dear Spike,_

_ By the time you're reading this I will be gone. I'm sorry I didn't tell you I was leaving myself, but I knew that you would either try and talk me out of it, or try to come with me, and this is something I have to do myself._

_ I'm sure you're wondering why I've left and where I'm going. And well, there's no easy way to say this, so I'm just going to say it as honestly as I can. Something broke inside of me yesterday. When everyone left to help the fake Cadance after I'd tried to tell everyone something was wrong... I had never felt so alone in my life. Well, that's not entirely true, there was one time, and that leads me to my problem. The only other time I had ever felt this... alone and abandoned, was when Discord had used his powers to turn us all against each other, and I was no longer able to believe in our friendship._

_ After helping with the wedding preparations again, I noticed that my heart was aching, and my fur was starting to lose its color, much like the event with Discord. After thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that I once again could not feel the magic of friendship, which as the Element of Magic has left me in a very painful position. It... hurts. I'll just say that._

_ So I found something in the library that I think will help me, but I have to go on a journey to do so. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I promise you I will return as soon as I can._

_ Please apologize to Princess Cadance for me for missing her and Shinning's wedding. And let Princess Celestia know that I understand if she wishes to replace me as her student after this. And tell the girls that I, I hope... Tell the girls that I wish them well. Be good until I get back ok?_

_ Love,_

_ Twilight Sparkle_

Everypony in the room stared at each other in shock as Spike finished reading the letter. The room was silent as the letter slipped through Spike's claws, as tears began to form in his eyes.

"Twilight... she... s-she left me..." He said, a hitch in his voice before he began to cry. Rarity quickly ran over and scooped the little dragon into a hug as he began to bawl into her fur, her own tears falling silently as she tried to comfort him.

The other mares weren't faring much better. Pinkie Pie's mane had somehow deflated after spike finished reading the letter, hanging flatly down her head as she began crying, tears literally bursting from her eyes as if they were hoses. While Fluttershy whimpered to herself, quietly crying over the thought of losing one of her friends.

Applejack as trying to wrap her mind around it, even as her entire body felt like it was suddenly made from lead. She thought that after she'd apologized to Twilight when Queen Chrysalis revealed herself that it had all been okay. How could she not have seen how much her friend was hurting?

Out of everypony's reactions, Rainbow Dash's was perhaps the strangest. He eyes went from shocked, to teary, to narrowed and determined before she began to walk past the others and out of the room. Seeing the mare leave the room knocked Appledash out of her stupor to call out to the cyan pegasus.

"Rainbow? Where are you goin'?" She asked.

Rainbow Dash cast a glance back at her friends. "I'm gonna go tell Princess Celestia what happened, then I'm gonna find out where that egghead went and drag her back here!" She said, determination in her voice. "Nopony just leaves without saying goodbye to me, and I'm not gonna let one of my friends go off on her own because I hurt her! I'm gonna find that egghead, prove to her that we're still friends, and bring her back to Ponyville kicking and screaming if I have to!" With that, she trotted out of the room.

And as she left, her words hung in the air, filling the other ponies with hope.

"Yeah! We can't just let Twilight go off on her own like this! We'll find her and throw her a huge Sorry-We-Were-Thoughtless-And-Didn't-Listen-To-You-About-The-Changelings Party and then have an even huger party when we're all friends again!" Pinkie Pie shouted, a wide smile across her face as her mane was back to it's normal poofy nature.

Applejack smiled. "Yer darn-tootin we will! Ain't no way I'm just gonna let that filly just walk away without tryin' ta fix this! Come on gals, let's go meet with the Princess before Rainbow Dash takes off without us."

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie nodded, and all three turned to look at Rarity and Spike, who had finally stopped crying. The little dragon wiped his eyes with the back of his claws, before nodding at the others. "Lets go get Twilight back!"

=-=MLP:FiM=-=

Twilight looked out the window of the train as it sped across towards the north. She sighed as she wondered how the wedding was going, and whether or not Shinning Armor would forgive her for not attending. Part of her wondered who he had gotten to replace her as his Best Mare, but was sure he'd handled that the day before. She sighed again thinking about it. She'd been so happy and excited when he'd asked her to be his Best Mare, and now...

She quickly banished the thoughts. Since her journey had begun her heart had already started to feel lighter, and her coat had even regained some of its color. If she kept dredging up bad memories, the small progress she had made would be lost.

She focused her eyes onto the map in Starswirl's book. Her first stop would be the place where Starswirl had gotten his idea for the Elements of Harmony, the Crystal Empire. The map had it listed far to the north of Canterlot. When she had inquired at the train station they had said that there was a stop near the area, but it was mainly used for ponies conducting experiments or studies of the arctic nature up there. As far as the mare at the ticket window was aware, there were not settlements in the area, let alone an empire.

Still, it was where Starswirl started his journey, so even if Twilight had to try and find the snow covered ruins of some lost city, it would be the start of hers.

With a slight smile on her face, she put the book away and began to let her mind wander, trying to picture just what she might learn on this adventure.

And in the future, when she remembered this moment, she'd smile ruefully to herself and shake her head.

Her guesses never even came close.

**Author's Note:**

**So there you have it, the first chapter of my first My Little Pony fanfic. I just watched the show last month and to be honest, after the first few episodes, I couldn't see what the big deal was. But I watched more and more and suddenly I realized, these characters are awesome! Sure, there's all the sappy moral lessons each episode tries to teach, but I even began to like those over time. **

**But when I got to the end of the second season, I found myself with this little plot bunny running around my head, demanding to be written. So here we are.**

**As you've read I've taken some liberties with Equestrian history, but I tried to keep it all in line with cannon. If I did mess something up, it was from a lack of knowledge, not me disregarding the world already established.**

**I'll hopefully update this soon while the Brony Bug is still squirming around in my brain, but the next chapter will be after I release the next chapter for Fuzzy Wuzzy Protector.**

**So please, let me know what you think of the story, or any errors I may have made.**


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